Rosaceae and vaccinium floral evolution

对植物进化的研究对于假设古代植物的变化是至关重要的，这些变化导致了我们今天看到的植物和花的多样性。目前，对花卉进化感兴趣的研究人员可以使用许多技术。第一个，系统发育，或系谱体面，对于提供一个框架来表示植物群之间的关系是必不可少的。我的研究旨在通过比较分析两个经济上和生态上重要的植物类群的DNA序列和花发育数据来构建系统发育。玫瑰属于一组植物，包括潜在草，覆盆子，草莓，和许多重要的生态植物。从DNA分析中得出的系统发育树表明，并不是这一群体的所有成员都彼此密切相关。我的研究将使用比较花发育数据来确定这一群体成员之间的不同特征，以更好地理解这些关系。这些研究结果将为花器官特征基因的进化研究提供依据。蓝莓与蔓越莓、越桔和鹧鸪莓同属一类植物。以前的蓝莓系统发育分析使用单一来源的数据，或者没有完全阐明这一群体内的关系。因此，我将收集数据来完成一个大的、多基因的DNA数据集，以完善我们对这些植物之间关系的理解。我还将对这一群体的花朵发育进行比较分析，以调查我们在它们的花朵上看到的广泛差异的基础。对植物类群间关系的深入研究不仅能使我们深入了解它们的进化过程，而且还能提供具有重要社会经济意义的性状信息。从我的研究中获得的信息有可能通过帮助了解发育过程的遗传控制来协助育种计划，以及确定可能在育种中使用的野生近缘种的特征。这些信息也可用于确定保护野生种群的策略。

The study of plant evolution is essential to hypothesizing the changes in ancient plants that led to the diversity of plant and flower forms we see today. Currently, a number of techniques are available to researchers interested in flower evolution. The first, phylogeny, or genealogical decent, is essential for providing a framework for representing relationships amongst groups of plants. My research seeks to construct phylogenies from comparative analyses of DNA sequences and floral development data from two economically and ecologically important groups of plants.     Roses belong to a group of plants that includes potentillas, raspberries, strawberries, and many ecologically important plants. Phylogenetic trees from analyses of DNA demonstrate that not all members of this group are closely related to one another. My research will use comparative floral development data to determine characters that differ among members of this group to better understand these relationships. Results from these studies will provide a basis for studying the evolution of floral organ identity genes.     Blueberries belong to a group of plants that also includes cranberries, bilberries, and partridge berries. Previous analyses blueberry of phylogeny use single sources of data, or do not fully clarify relationships within this group. Therefore, I will collect data to complete a large, multi-gene DNA data set to refine our understanding of relationships amongst these plants. I will also carry out comparative analyses of flower development of this group to investigate the basis for the wide variation we see in their flowers.     Thorough investigations of the relationships amongst plant groups not only provide us with insight into their evolution, but also provide information concerning characters with socio-economic importance. Information from my research has the potential to assist breeding programs by helping understand the genetic control of developmental processes, as well as determining characteristics in wild relatives that may be of use in breeding. This information can also be employed in determining strategies for the conservation of wild populations.